When No One Else Was Looking
by jackieorly
Summary: All she wanted was for him to see her instead of the perfect, blonde cheerleader. - One-shot, surprise pairing inside.


Watching from across the choir room, she sang along with the rest of the group, but couldn't tear her eyes away from him. He only had eyes for the girl sitting beside him. She was beautiful, blonde, and one of Sue Sylvester's infamous Cheerios. She was the epitome of perfection and she knew she couldn't compete. Glee was her turf, but it was infiltrated by her and her cheerleading friends. It was hard for her to admit, but she had a good voice. God, wasn't there anything she wasn't good at? She swallowed her own self pity and placed a smile on her face, even while her heart ached and yearned for him.

They did this a lot during practice; he'd finally look over in her direction and she'd give him one of her best smiles before he'd turn back to the perky blonde as if she wasn't in the room at all. He'd reach out, take her hand, or touch her in some way that was indicative of flirting. Now her heart was breaking just a little more than it was before.

If only he could forget about her and admit that he liked her. That he thought about her well after Glee was done rehearsing every Thursday. Part of her convinced herself that he did if only because she could feel his stare on her every now and again. They'd exchange pleasantries when they were alone, but then his attention would divert back to _her_ when she entered the room. Okay, so she could admit her rival was as gorgeous as she was talented, but he had more things in common with her than with Miss All-American Girl.

Now that practice was done for the day, she gathered her belongings and was heading out before she felt a hand grab her by the wrist. It caught her off guard and she dropped her three-ring binder, the contents from the inner pockets spilling out onto the floor. They both knelt to the floor, bumping foreheads with one another as they scrambled to get her things back together.

"Ow!" She said in pain, rubbing the spot on her forehead that had collided with his just a second ago. She was already falling head over heels for the guy, who knew it was literal too? He let out a low chuckle and she couldn't help but laugh softly with him. It was the most interaction they had in the last few days. She would've welcomed any kind of contact with him, but this was simply embarrassing.

"I'm sorry, that was totally my fault. Here, let me help you with this." After he was able to help her shuffle the loose sheets of paper back into her binder, he aided in her in getting back to her knees. She smoothed out her skirt and just smiled like a complete dork.

"Okay, well… see you tomorrow," she started to turn to leave, but stepped in front of her to block the exit way.

"No, wait. I needed to talk to you."

Well, now she was dreaming, right? She hit her head harder than she had originally thought. She quickly glanced around the empty choir room, trying to make sense of what was real and what wasn't. This was definitely real.

"Listen, I know we haven't talked as much this past week, but I was hoping…" He trailed off for a moment, his eyes carefully scanning her facial features and expression once it dawned on her where he was going with this. "Would you? I mean, do you want to do something on Saturday night?"

"I-I'd love to," she responded in shock, praying to God that she didn't seem too eager. "Like… a date?" She couldn't believe she actually asked him that, but a girl could never be too prepared. If it was a date, she needed to brace herself.

A grin appeared on his face and that in itself answered her question. "Yeah, like a date. Pick you up at eight?"

"Super!" Did she just say 'super'? What, was she in the 50s now or something? He could sense that she was kicking herself mentally, but he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder to ease her. While it helped, it just made her tense up because she was now a ball of nerves.

"Super," he repeated it back to her with one of his make-you-weak-in-the-knees type of smiles. How she didn't melt onto the floor right then and there, she didn't know. "See you Saturday night at eight, Tina." He leaned in, pressing a kiss to her cheek before he backed away and left with a wave.

"See you, Mike," she waved with her trembling fingers well after he had left. For the first time in a long time, Tina felt a sense of confidence and happiness. This whole time she was worried about Brittany and Mike being so close, yet he finally asked her out. Leaving the choir room, she had a smile from ear to ear and walked with her head held high. Brittany had nothing on Tina.

**A/N:** Just something I had been thinking about since Throwdown and after Mash-Up. I needed to get this out of my system. Hope you enjoyed it!


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